The present invention relates to a new and improved wood cutting apparatus. More particularly, this invention relates to an apparatus on which relatively thin wafers or strips of wood may be fed in guided manner under a cutting blade and thereby cut in various contoured pieces, which in turn are inlaid together to form various desired patterns in an art known as marquetry. 2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore the practioner of marquetry, that is the art of inlaying with wood, has used a fine saw to cut out veneers for inlaying. The saw is mounted in a bow or arched handle, and worked in short quick movements, sometimes to cut three or four veneers simultaneously. Inlaying is practiced sometimes by the use of woods of different colors, grain structure, and the like; sometimes by the use of wood cut to different contours or shapes, but having complementary edges so as to allow for interfitting; and sometimes by the use of woods to both different contours and from woods of contrasting colors and/or grain structure to provide both interesting and attractive products. For example, to obtain a finished product with contrasting colors, a dark wood may be used in combination with a tulip-wood or to obtain a product with contrasting color and grain structure, use of holly and walniat provides an attractive product. Subsequent to conceiving the present invention, applicant caused a prior art search for relevant prior art to be conducted in the United States Patent Office. In the course of the search the patents listed below, which constitute the most relevant art noted, are brought to the attention of the Examiner to be assigned to examine this application:
Patent No. Patentee Year Class/Subclass 116,258 Bean, Jr. 1871 83/607 291,509 Gratz et al 1884 83/468 1,090,297 Greenwell 1914 83/468 1,149,942 Perez 1915 83/468 1,184,499 Wilhemsdorfer 1916 83/468 1,462,871 Rosenberg 1923 83/468 2,889,877 Ralston 1959 83/607 3,134,285 Greene 1964 83/468.3 4,346,636 Taylor 1982 83/468.3 4,580,474 Bueche, Sr. 1986 83/468 5,249,495 Renk 1993 83/468.3 5,259,284 Chen 1993 83/468.3 5,297,463 O'Banion et al 1994 83/468.3
Considering the art cited above, it is appears that paper cutting type or Guillotine apparatuses, which on first blush, might seem to be suitable for use to achieve the objectives attained by the present invention, include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 291,509; 2,889,877; and 5,249,495. To produce the desired contoured pieces on such apparatuses, as disclosed in the cited patents, requires considerable skill, dexterity, attention, and determination on the part of the operator in manipulating, holding, and feeding the wafer or strip of wood to the respective cutting members of the prior art. The apparatuses of the cited patents, while possessing some structural features enabling cutting action, which merely remotely resemble that of the present invention, but owing to deficiencies in their structural details and arrangements, they fall far short of the mark of enabling one to turn out the desired contoured pieces as efficiently and neatly as the present invention does.
The patents listed above, which constitute the most relevant art known by applicant with respect to the disclosed invention, relate to cutting apparatuses having structural details generally similar to several components of the subject matter for which a patent is sought. Such details of the prior art, however, neither anticipate nor render obvious the apparatus disclosed herein.